Lebanon’s military may have absolutely disarmed Hezbollah close to the border with Israel inside three months, Beirut’s international minister stated Tuesday as the federal government tries to revive management within the areas of the nation lengthy dominated by the Iran-backed terror group.
Lebanese navy chief Rodolphe Haykal offered the federal government with a five-stage plan final week to implement a coverage setting the Lebanese state as the one professional bearer of arms, International Minister Youssef Raggi instructed AFP.
The primary stage ought to take “three months… throughout which the elimination of weapons can be accomplished south of the Litani River,” in November, he stated.
Israel has demanded for years that armed Hezbollah exercise be barred south of the Litani, which is positioned some 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the Israeli border in lots of locations.
Requires Hezbollah’s disarmament have taken heart stage in Lebanon for the reason that terror group sustained heavy losses in a yearlong battle with Israel. The outcomes of that struggle, which ended final November, upended an influence stability that had lengthy been dominated by the phobia group.
Since then, Hezbollah has been underneath rising home and worldwide strain to surrender its remaining arsenal, together with from Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who, underneath strain from america, has pushed for the phobia group to disarm.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (C) heads a cupboard session to debate a military plan to disarm Hezbollah, on the Presidential Palace in Baabda, on September 5, 2025 (ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
Final week, Data Minister Paul Morcos stated that the navy will start implementing its lately permitted plan to disarm Hezbollah, however tempered expectations barely, saying Beirut’s capabilities “are restricted when it comes to logistics, materials and human assets.”
On the authorities assembly the place the plan was permitted, a number of Hezbollah and different Shiite officers walked out in protest, as Hezbollah has accused the federal government of caving to American and Israeli strain and stated it could “deal with this resolution as if it doesn’t exist.”
Morcos additionally claimed that Israel had not held up its finish of the settlement specified by the US-brokered ceasefire: “Israel, like Lebanon, has clear obligations. Nonetheless, its continued violations represent proof of its reneging on these obligations and severely threaten regional safety and stability.”
Underneath the ceasefire, Hezbollah and Israel have been each required to withdraw from south Lebanon, however Israel has stored forces in a number of areas it deems strategic. It additionally continues to conduct strikes throughout Lebanon in response to what it says are ceasefire violations.
Israel has stated its strikes intention to forestall Hezbollah from rearming and to guard residents of its northern border space, and that it’ll withdraw from websites in Lebanon that its troops nonetheless occupy when Hezbollah lays down its weapons. However the terror group has rejected any transfer to dismantle its arsenal.
Supporters of Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group block the streets with burning tires as they rally in automobiles and motorbikes to protest the federal government’s endorsement of a plan to disarm it, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, early on August 8, 2025. (Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
For the reason that ceasefire was reached, the Lebanese military has additionally commonly collected caches of weapons and ammunition from the world south of the Litani River, from which Hezbollah has largely withdrawn, however the group’s heavier missiles and drones have remained hidden.
The battle between Israel and Hezbollah erupted when the Iranian-backed terror group started launching rockets at northern Israel in assist of Hamas after it led the October 7 bloodbath in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 folks and noticed 251 taken hostage to Gaza.
The battle ultimately escalated into open struggle between Israel and Hezbollah by September 2024, ending in a ceasefire on the finish of November that 12 months.
